All mammals require a healthy diet and proper digestion for continued growth and ordinary well being. However, gastrointestinal distress interferes with the ordinary digestion of food. Some of these problems can be quite serious and demand serious medical attention such as Crohn's disease; irritable bowel syndrome, other chronic conditions and the like. Others are of a less serious condition and can be essentially self-limiting such as food borne virus, intestinal flu and the like. Almost all gastrointestinal disorders are accompanied by diarrhea, a loose watery stool which can be extremely unpleasant to the mammal harboring the condition or to a pet owner who must clean up after the pet evacuates, particularly if on a chronic basis.
It has also been found that some pet foods tend to create or exacerbate a diarrhea condition. For example, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,280,779 issued Aug. 28, 2001, diarrhea can be a significant problem with pets consuming a “chunks and gravy” diet. In particular, the presence of significant quantities of gum in a “chunks and gravy” diet, primarily chemically modified starches or gums, but even, to a lesser extent, ordinary natural starches and gums has been associated with diarrhea in pets.